Let's Catch Up!

Hi, sweet friends! Long time, no see! I am so happy to be back to share a few updates on my classroom  this school year. 

I don't know about you but, back to school was pretty much a whirlwind for me. I traveled to Europe and returned a short 3 days before the kiddos were to arrive { What was I thinking?!}. Before leaving for my trip I had my classroom all ready to go, but when I got back I was offered a new classroom with a Smartboard! So, what's a girl to do?

Naturally, I picked the room with the Smartboard (duh!) and pulled a last minute switch-a-roo....with the help of my loved ones, of course. So tonight I have a few classroom snapshots for you. Unfortunately, I can't say that every.single.thing in my classroom is just how I want it to be, but it's pretty darn close. I feel like I am never 100 percent satisfied no matter what I do, but I gotta tell ya I am really liking the set up so far. I know things will change and be added as the year progresses, but I'm glad to have a good start. 

Am I the only one who feels this way?

As far as classroom decor goes, I typically like warmer color schemes and very little clutter. I am *somewhat* of a  freak for organization and labeling (just don't open my cabinets). That being said, I {shamefully} have not finished labeling everything in my classroom. Thanks to a sweet parent of one of my students, I was able to get this great cubby system to organize all of our math tubs and manipulatives. I actually have two cubbies side by side, with the manipulatives spanning the top 6 cubbies and math/ dessert tubs occupying the bottom two rows. 

Since I teach K/1 gifted, a WHOLE lot of differentiation goes on in my little classroom....which means I also need a WHOLE lot of storage for all these center activities. It took a while, but I finally figured out a way to keep it all straight (for me and the kids). My higher students use the blue baskets as math tubs and my lower students use the green baskets. Of course, no one knows which group they are in, they just know what color math tub they are to use. The dessert tubs are in the purples containers to the right. I keep a folder in each tub with the recording sheets that correspond to each activity. The students know which math tub they are to complete on each day, and they are responsible for getting the necessary supplies from the tubs. I typically make 4 different math tub activities per week for each group of students (that's 8 in all) and I usually set out 3-4 dessert tubs each week.

 Needless to say, my "Sunday Fundays" consist of wine, Breaking Bad, and my laminating machine :)

The top baskets house our extra materials (glue, pencils, scissors, markers, etc.) and I use the three tier paper caddy to hold loose-leaf paper, construction paper, and blank writer's workshop papers. 

On another note, our school-wide back to school theme this year was "Wild Wild West". It was so much fun to get the whole school dressed up and excited to start of the school year! To celebrate the fun, my students and I read How I Spent My Summer Vacation by Mark Teague, wrote about our own summer vacations, and finished up with a cute little cowboy/ cowgirl craftivity. It was a rootin' tootin' good time!

For the faces I simply used paper plates. I made a template for the hat and bandanna that I will be uploading as a freebie in the very near future. 

I can't wait to share more updates on my classroom with you, friends. 

In the mean time, enjoy your week!

 Happy Monday! 

Sunday Smorgasbord

Hey ya'll! I'm back again for the THIRD time this week....can you believe it?! Today I'm linking up with Fabulous in First for Sunday Smorgasbord! That's right, be prepared for a post full of random happenings...

First up, I wanted to share my Fourth of July with you. The weather was pretty nice in these parts, so we had ourselves a pool party. Everyone brought their own food to grill and, in true teacher style, my friends and I decided to get a little crafty with our food! We tried our hands at making homemade shish kabobs. I have to say, they were darn good!

That's them before they were cooked. They look pretty tasty right?

The next day was my nieces birthday, so we got to celebrate by seeing Despicable Me 2. I was probably equally as excited as the kids! 

This summer, I've also taken on a few new projects to keep me busy, and one of them was playing tennis. I've had a few lessons for about a month now and let me tell you....I am not good. Practice makes perfect though, right? 

However, my super cute tennis racket makes my lack of tennis skills slightly less noticeable...to me anyway.

 

Did I forget to mention it's pink? 

I've also been doing a whole lot of school supply shopping, and I recently purchased these little stools for my classroom next year. Seating is always pretty tight in my class, so I couldn't pass up these cute little stools at such a steal! I also loved the colors and the reviews were pretty great! I'm not exactly sure where I'll use them this year, but I was thinking they could be good for my small group table...any suggestions?

Welp,that's about all the random-ness going on in my life right now! Be sure to link up with your Sunday Smorgasbord over at Fabulous in First!

Thanks for visiting me today, please check back tomorrow for a post on new products and organization in my classroom. 

Have a GREAT day!

 

Summa Time!

Hello, long lost friends! I sure have missed you!

Let me start off by apologizing for my ridiculously long absence. I got so bogged down with the end of the year, finding/ moving into a new house, and teaching summer school that I thought it was best to take a small hiatus! 

But, I'm back now, and I am ready to party!

Hopefully you're like me, and you are enjoying every second of your summer! That's not to say this girl hasn't been busy, because that would be an outright lie. But I have found some time to do a little of this....

and a little TOO much of this...

I'm definitely still in school mode full force. With a trip to Europe scheduled for the end of July and my birthday almost immediately after, I am trying to spend every free second preparing for my new little friends I'll be meeting on August 12th.

To do so, I've been spending a little time getting know these new friends...

Admittedly, I've had these books for quite a while now, but I am finally finding the time to really get into them. I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am! I feel like they are really helping me structure my literacy block in a more effective way.  Yes, one of them still has the wrapper on it. But hey, summer ain't over yet! I still have time, and I fully intend to get every one of those books read by the time August rolls around.

I've also  been working overtime on the curriculum side of things. One of my major goals this summer is to get ahead on all of my units. You know, so I can actually have a weekend every once in a while. My latest pride and joy is definitely my most favorite unit to date! I'm linking up with 4th Grade Frolics today to share it with you in this week's edition of Monday Made It.

My Johnny Appleseed unit is definitely one of my best memories of the school year. For me, it marks the beginning of fall, my favorite time of year! It's also one of the units that I find my students get into the most, which makes it super fun to teach! Those are the memories I kept in mind while creating this newest unit. If you'd like to take a closer look at everything included in the packet, you can view it in my TPT shop or click the picture below.

And, to celebrate my return to blogging, everything in my shop will be 20% off until Tuesday night. So get your shoppin' on!

I hope to be back very soon with more updates, freebies, and findings for the new school year!

Happy Monday, bloggin' buddies!